A Cuban DC-3 airliner carrying 35 passengers and crew was hijacked early yesterday and forced to fly to Florida, where it landed in Key West under escort of US military jets.
The FBI took six suspected hijackers into custody on the Tarmac at Key West International Airport after the plane, flown by Cuban state airline Aerotaxi, landed safely. No injuries were reported, and the passengers were held for questioning.
The plane was first spotted by Miami air- traffic controllers as it headed from the communist-ruled Caribbean island across the 90 miles of the Florida Straits which separate Cuba from Key West.
US military fighter jets were scrambled from the Homestead air reserve base south of Miami to escort the plane when it was spotted approaching from Cuba just before 8 p.m. (1:00 GMT yesterday).
The US government put the nation on a heightened state of alert this week in advance of an invasion of Iraq.
The DC-3 was on a domestic flight from Nueva Gerona, on the the Isle of Youth, to Havana when it was "diverted" to the US, an official at the Cuban Civil Aviation Institute told Reuters. "It was hijacked," he said, offering no further details.
FBI agents handcuffed six suspects at the Key West airport, said FBI spokeswoman Ms Judy Orihuela.
Key West police spokesman Mr Steve Torrence said agents from the FBI, the Bureau of Customs and Immigration and the US Navy met the plane, along with local police.
"As they were landing, one of our police cars got behind it with its blue lights on. The plane pulled over and stopped. It was a peaceful resolution."
He said the hijackers were armed with knives.
Cubans have stolen or hijacked planes on a number of occasions to leave the island and reach the US, where they usually seek asylum.
The last Cuban plane to be diverted to the US was an AN-2 biplane which was flown to Key West by a Cuban pilot who first picked up seven relatives in the town of Pinar del Rio. The AN-2 is used in Cuba as a commuter plane and a crop duster.
In September 2000, another Cuban pilot ditched an AN-2 in the Gulf of Mexico after getting lost. Nine of the 10 people on board were rescued, while one drowned. - (Reuters)